Top 20 Players of MW3: #6 Drazah

The #6 player of the Modern Warfare 3 season brought to you by HouseBets.com is the Alaskan Assassin, Zack “Drazah” Jordan.

Drazah was looking for a new home going into the year, and he’d be highly sought after. With LA Thieves finishing Top 8 in MW2 and Sam “Octane” Larew retiring, the team would break apart. After choosing Atlanta, Drazah would fit perfectly with the roles on the roster. He’d finish the year with a 1.07 overall KD, a 79.1 Slayer Rating, and set multiple records in Control. His individual impact was very high, helping FaZe to be the only team to finish in the Top 3 at every major and have an average placement of 2.8. Another great season out of the Alaskan.

Season Review

After a season marked by ups and downs in Modern Warfare 2, Atlanta decided to shake up the roster for the second offseason in a row. Austin "SlasheR" Liddicoat exited as they sought to add a fast-paced AR to pair with McArthur "Cellium" Jovel. With the LA Thieves' World Championship lineup breaking apart, flex AR Drazah became available and joined the team. Acquiring Drazah would fix the pacing issues the team suffered from last season while adding another great SND player. With another year of having a star-studded roster, expectations were high.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

With the pressure to secure multiple championships in Modern Warfare 3, Atlanta had to perform this season. After dominating in Cold War with four titles, the franchise had only managed one Major win in the following two seasons. However, the first qualifier went exceptionally well, as they swept four different teams, including LAT and Texas, and ended with the best map count in the League (21-5, 81%). They finished with a 7-0 series record and secured the top seed heading into Major 1. The Major started just as smoothly, with wins over LAG (3-0) and Texas (3-2). Riding a 9-game winning streak, FaZe faced Toronto for a spot in the Finals, where the Ultra ended Atlanta's run and then defeated them again in the Finals, 4-1. The second-place curse continued for FaZe.

FaZe quickly regained momentum, starting 1-0 in the Major 2 Qualifiers. Despite dropping two Map 2 games to LAG and New York, they finished the qualifier with a 5-2 record and a 19-7 map count (73%), earning the 3rd seed for Major 2. Though they didn't dominate the qualifiers, they excelled at the Major, kicking off with back-to-back game 5 wins over LAT and New York, advancing to the Upper Finals against OpTic Texas. FaZe delivered a strong performance, defeating OpTic 3-1 and then 4-1 in the Grand Finals to claim the Major 2 title, driven by outstanding Hardpoint (13-5, 1st in CDL) and Control (9-2, 1st in CDL) play.

📸 Photo by @ATLFaZe

Following a brief mid-season break, FaZe was ready to resume their campaign. In one of the best qualifiers of the year, Atlanta finished 7-0 in the series with a 21-4 map count (84%), defeating every other top 4 team. With wins over New York (3-1), Texas (3-1), and Toronto (3-0), Atlanta entered Major 3 as the favorites to repeat. Their run started strong with a 3-0 victory over Miami in the opening match, followed by another 3-0 sweep against New York. However, just one match away from the Grand Finals, Atlanta stumbled with back-to-back Map 5 losses to Toronto and Texas, ultimately finishing 3rd at Major 3. After a strong qualifier, it was a disappointing end to their run.

While Atlanta was dominant in respawns during Stage 3, going 25-4, their SND performance lagged with a 6-7 record and two Map 5 losses. Improving their SND play was crucial for a return to dominance, and they did just that, starting 5-0 in the final qualifiers of the season with strong SND performances. Despite a 2-3 loss to Toronto, the team finished 6-1 in the series and secured the 2nd seed behind Toronto.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

FaZe began the Major with back-to-back 3-0 victories over New York and Seattle, reaching their 4th consecutive Upper Finals of the season. A 3-0 win over LAG put them in the Grand Finals against the New York Subliners. Though FaZe had previously beaten the Subliners at the start of the tournament, New York fought back to win 4-2 in the Finals, securing their first major victory of the season and handing Atlanta their second runner-up finish of the year.

Despite achieving top-three finishes at every Major, Atlanta managed to win only one championship, placing them under significant pressure to perform well at Champs. They handled their opening match against Miami Heretics with a 3-1 victory, but that was the extent of their success at the tournament. Atlanta then fell to New York (2-3) and Toronto (0-3), leading to a surprising and early exit. This marked the franchise's worst placement at Champs in the CDL era, leaving everyone involved deeply disappointed.

How good was Drazah in 2024?

Hardpoint

Drazah was instrumental in Atlanta’s Hardpoint form this season. With Cellium changing to the Main AR position, Drazah was there to provide pace and damage. He’d do just that, averaging the 2nd-most engagements (53.4) and damage (4309) per 10 minutes. He added a 1.08 KD in the game mode with 59.1 seconds of hill time per 10 minutes as well. Drazah also got better on LAN, improving his engagements (54.9) and damage (4491) per 10 minutes, leading the team in both statistics. In 33.8% of maps, Drazah had over 5,000 damage dealt, showing how much impact he had.

Hardpoint was a strong mode for Atlanta, where FaZe excelled throughout the season. They finished with an impressive 52-25 record in Hardpoint, placing 3rd in the CDL. Their peak performance came during Stages 2 and 3, where they combined for a 28-8 record in the mode. FaZe ranked high with a +20.8 average margin (3rd), a 50.4% rotation win rate (3rd), a hold percentage of 79%, and a 33-15 Map 1 record (2nd). Unfortunately, they faltered towards the end of the year, finishing with a 2-5 record in their last 7 Hardpoint matches, which contributed to their loss to New York in the Major 4 Grand Finals and their elimination from Champs.

Search & Destroy

Traditionally one of his best game modes, Drazah's least productive mode this season was SND. Draz ended the year with a 0.93 KD in the mode, but the KD doesn’t tell the whole story. Zach had advanced stats of 0.64 kills per round, 172.7 ADR, and an opening duel win rate of 53.2%. With three other stars on the roster, there was only so much statistical impact that Drazah could have, but he was still very active.

Search & Destroy has consistently been Atlanta FaZe's strongest mode since the inception of the Call of Duty League, and this year was no exception. FaZe once again topped the League with a 41-23 record in this mode. They not only had the best overall record but also led the League in round win rate (55.3%), opening duel win rate (55%), and attacking record (160-128, 55.6%). FaZe also excelled in securing opening duels on both the attacking side (53.1%) and defending side (56.8%). Additionally, they ranked 2nd in conversion percentage (76.2%), post-plant win rate (73%), and defending record (161-131, 55.1%), and they were 3rd in retake win percentage (37.9%).

Control

The best mode of the season for Drazah was Control. In the swing game mode, Drazah ended with a 1.11 KD. He finished with 19.4 kills & 3839 damage per 10 minutes, including a team-high 1.9 ticks captured per attacking round. Drazah also set multiple Control records over the season. The Alaskan Assassin set the kill record (47), the damage record (8,343), and the defending KD record (12.00) in a single match.

Much like in Search & Destroy, Atlanta FaZe dominated in Control throughout the season. The team ended the year with an impressive 38-11 record in the mode, including 14-4 on Highrise, 18-5 on Invasion, and 6-2 on Karachi. FaZe led the League in several key categories, including overall round win rate (62.9%), attacking win rate (42%), defending win rate (82.9%), and average ticks allowed per defending round (3.4). They were undoubtedly the top team in Control during Modern Warfare 3.

A look ahead to Black Ops 6

Atlanta FaZe enters the upcoming season as one of the biggest uncertainties. Despite consistently finishing in the Top 3 at every Major, their disappointing performance at Champs was unacceptable for the organization. The team’s performance at the Esports World Cup will heavily influence future decisions. A strong showing could simplify planning for next year, but another poor result will only heighten the pressure for changes within the team.

In the previous two offseasons, Atlanta has stuck with the core trio of players in Chris "Simp" Lehr, Tyler "aBeZy" Pharris, and Cellium. They’d try to find the best fourth player for the roster, which Drazah has been the best fit. Unfortunately, the team lost another two Grand Finals and had their worst-ever placing at Champs in the Top 6. Whether it's on Atlanta or not, Drazah is a top-level flex AR that will be a force in the next title.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

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